London, November 6, 2008 – Sony DADC has announced the completion of its latest investment
round in Blu-ray Disc authoring and mastering facilities at its London office. A global player in
the media creation industry with creative facilities on every continent, Sony DADC has now created
Europe’s best resourced and most advanced Blu-ray Disc authoring and mastering cluster comprising
of the London facility working closely with its Salzburg Blu-ray Disc authoring centre.
Alongside the format’s stunning High Definition video and audio
capabilities, Sony DADC continues to invest in the evolution of its BD-Live authoring
resources. This sophisticated interactivity palette blends Blu-ray seamlessly with internet
connectivity and transforms the home entertainment experience from passive viewing to totally
immersive interactivity. It enables movie fans to access a rich diversity of added value content
and communicate with the movie’s makers, the studio and other committed fans through specially
developed web-based portals.
“With its unprecedented picture and sound quality together with the
rapidly developing BD-Live, Blu-ray is revolutionising the European home entertainment industry,”
commented Neil Bottrill, Head of DigitalWorks Authoring & Post-Production at Sony DADC’s London
Office. “Already, Blu-ray accounts for more of our revenue than DVD projects. In just 12 months, we
have seen our Blu-ray authoring business grow by more than ten times in both volume and value.”
Delivering a fast-track Blu-ray Disc production facility for its
clients, Sony DADC has invested heavily in HD production equipment, which covers the entire
creative process from HDCAM-SR format High Definition tape decks to specialist encoding systems and
authoring software. As a result of this investment, Sony DADC has all the necessary BD production
facilities in-house and can turn around projects faster than any other facility operating in
Europe.
“Thanks to all the facilities mentioned, Sony DADC can offer a
seamless One-Stop-Shop service for Blu-ray customers: from content creation over authoring,
mastering, production through to direct-to-retail shipments. So our clients just need to focus on
sales and marketing and do not have to worry about handing the title over from one supplier to the
other” Bottrill added.
Sony DADC’s rapidly growing Blu-ray client list includes 2Entertain,
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Icon, Entertainment Film, ITV DVD, Optimum, Showbox Media Group
Limited, Metrodome, Artificial Eye, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Music and Eagle Vision.
BD-Live development focus
2008 was the year when Blu-ray moved significantly into the
interactive space through the implementation of its unique BD-Live system, and when BD-Live
capacities were simultaneously rolled out at Sony DADC facilities in US, Europe and China. With a
wide range of consumer electronics manufacturers – such as Sony, Panasonic, Sharp and Pioneer –
launching BD-Live players this autumn, the movie studios are looking at this facility with
interest.
“Today it is the format’s exceptional picture and sound quality that
turn consumers on to Blu-ray but in the future we will see BD-Live becoming an increasingly
important element in the entertainment proposition,” explains Neil Bottrill. “Already, we can offer
the European market’s most advanced BD-Live production facility. In the future, our plan is to stay
ahead of the market by bringing more of these facilities, resources and people in-house within the
London team.”
About Sony DADC
Sony DADC is a leading disc and digital solution provider for the
entertainment, education and information industries, offering world-class optical media replication
services, digital and physical supply chain solutions and software services. The world’s largest
optical media production network consists of twenty-seven optical media production, distribution
and digital facilities worldwide. European distribution facilities are located in Frankfurt, Paris,
Madrid, Gothenburg and Enfield, UK. Manufacturing sites are located in Salzburg and Southwater,
UK.
BD production sites:
Salzburg/Austria
Terre Haute/US
Shizouka/Japan
Shanghai/China (January 2009)
Sydney/Australia (March 2009)
BD authoring facilities:
Salzburg/Austria
London/UK
Paris/France
Los Angeles/US
Hong Kong/China
For more information, please contact:
Christina Schobesberger
Tel: +43 6246 880 281
christina.schobesberger@sonydadc.com
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